


One Can Dream

by Lightlions



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Universe, Comfort, Fantasy World, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Injury, Keith is in love with lance, M/M, Mutual Pining, NO DEATH, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Rescue, Sickfic, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), dream - Freeform, lance is in love with keith, no blood or gore, shiro ships it, small injury, they are so oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-03-24 19:15:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13817682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightlions/pseuds/Lightlions
Summary: When Lance's greatest dream is broadcasted to the team, Keith thinks he knows exactly where it's going. He ends up being very, very surprised.





	1. Chapter 1

  
"This is stupid," Keith muttered, just loud enough for Lance to hear. He hacked another spiked plant away from his face, and continued, "why do I always have to get the worst assignments, always with you?"  
Lance, who was standing idly behind Keith poking what seemed to be a giant yellow bubble attached to a stem, gasped dramatically. "For your information," he began, turning his attention to a new, more colorful plant, "I am a delight to work with. And this place is awesome."  
Keith rolled his eyes and pushed forward, fully aware that Lance was going to be absolutely no help. The mission had started pleasantly enough-the team had previously freed a small planet from Galra rule, a task that had been fairly easy since the planet was small and unimportant to the empire, so there weren't many Galra there in the first place. Afterward, Allura began leading reconstruction. Keith sighed, vaguely wondering where it had all gone wrong.  
The planet they were on was filled with a large amount of incredible technology, mixed with what Hunk referred to as "science-y witchcraft". Both Pidge and Hunk were fascinated, and eager to help rebuild what they could. The inhabiting aliens, the Tallerians, were more than eager to accept any help.  
The first night the team spent on the new planet was a surprise, as the darkness came ice began to form on the trees. The weather during the day had been warm, humid even. One pointy-eared alien, who appeared to be a high ranking official, explained that cities were typically surrounded by small crystals planted under the ground, which kept the city warm. Not many were needed, and each one lasted years, but the current ones were dying. Once the Galra had enslaved them, no one had been able to get new crystals- they grew deep in the forests surrounding the largest city. The Galra wouldn't let any of the enslaved race out of their sight, so they spent the nights freezing, trying to keep the young and old warm enough until morning.  
Shiro, in his typical fashion, volunteered immediately to go gather crystals. "I can fly Black close enough to where the crystals are located, bring back as many as I can and be back within a few hours. Shouldn't be hard."  
"Or I could just go. I'm so bored." Keith had said, crossing his arms against his chest. He wasn't really, there was plenty of work to be done, but Shiro looked exhausted. He spent every waking moment planning future missions or leading current ones. Keith had noticed the bags under his eyes days ago, and they didn't seem to be getting better.  
"I don't know-" Shiro started, but Keith interrupted.  
"I thought you said it would be easy," Keith asked, somewhat tauntingly, "what, you don't think I can do it?"  
Shiro rolled his eyes, before regaining composure. "Fine," he resigned, "I'll find someone to give you directions. You should be able to fly close enough, but from what it sounds like you'll have to walk a short ways. And Lance is going with you."  
"WHAT?!" Lance looked up from where he was perched on top of supply boxes, the added height allowing him to more easily flirt with the tall alien girls who wandered through. "I'm helping here!"  
Shiro smiled. "And you are doing a great job, but I think you need a break. This should be easy, and a great chance for you two to bond."  
Shiro turned to smirk suggestively at Keith, who instantly regretted offering any help whatsoever.  
"Check this out!" Lance exclaimed, breaking Keith out of his thoughts. Lance stood over another plant, this time a large tear-dropped shaped pink one, peering into one of the many holes covering its surface.  
“Lovely,” Keith deadpanned, turning away to hack another set of vines.  
“Yeah it is,” Lance said, electing to ignore his teammate’s sarcasm, “it’s a little house!” Lance continued peering in various holes, happily noticing how many were filled with a variety of small insects.  
“Keith, look!” Lance continued, “it’s like an apartment for little crawly things. Aw this one is like a catipille-YEOWWWWWW!”  
Keith swung around and Lance’s yelp, his bayard raised, only to see the other boy staring down at his finger with a pout.  
“That one’s mean. It bit me.”  
“Wow, a paladin of Voltron, defeated by a caterpillar. Tragic.” Keith sighed, not even trying to keep the sharpness out of his tone.  
“Hey!” Lance protested, “It was a strong caterpillar! It bit through my armor!”  
Normally, Keith made a point to ignore Lance’s dramatics, as he tended to exaggerate frequently. Today, however, something was making Lance even more irritating. Keith tried to tell himself it had absolutely nothing to do with that fact that Lance had been hitting on every living thing since the mission began, every living thing besides him. Not that he would want Lance to, it was just…  
“Um, I think maybe it’s break time.” Lance declared.  
“Lance! Knock it off!” Keith shouted slightly louder than was necessary, before actually turning his attention to where Lance was. The blue paladin was staring down at his hands, blood oozing out of a single hole in his index finger. Even more concerning than the tiny bite, was Lance’s face. Normally a perfect caramel color that had Keith’s stomach flip-flopping whenever he got too close, it was now entirely pale, verging on translucent.  
“Ha, ha, yeah,” Lance continued, swaying slightly, “I will, after just one little second. Imma sit down really quick just for one second…” Lance’s body tipped further forward and Keith raced to catch him.  
“Ah yeah, Keith buddy, you take a break too, it’s all good, just for one second…” Lance mumbled. He pressed his head against Keith’s armor, his lips having gone as white as his face.


	2. Chapter 2

“We need to get him to a healing pod, NOW!” Shiro ordered, the moment Keith landed with a completely unconscious Lance slung over his shoulders.   
Hunk moved to take some of the weight off Keith, but not before an older Tallerian peered over curiously.   
“I wouldn’t do that,” the older man said, his pale orange eyes scanning the scene below him.  
“We don’t have time for this,” Keith urged, attempting to shove past him.  
“Why not?” Shiro asked, slowing Keith down with a firm hand on his other shoulder.   
“Mmmm,” the alien mused, two tongues sliding out of his mouth to lick his lips, “I can’t be certain, but this predicament feels…familiar. If it’s what I think it is, no medicine or healing pod will have any effect.”  
“Thanks for the help,” Keith spat angrily, pushing Shiro’s hand off his shoulder.   
“What could be done, then?” Shiro asked, his tone steady but urgent. It wasn’t difficult to tell he was trying to keep calm.  
“Take him to a healer’s shack. Many have been destroyed by the Galra, but I believe there is one not far from here. Perhaps there is still a healer, but one can never be sure.”  
“I thought you said no medicine would work?” Pidge asked skeptically, glancing between the Tallerian and Shiro.  
“”Let’s go,” Shiro instructed, without hesitation. “Tell us how to get there.”

  
The healer’s shack reminded Keith of an old bookstore, packed with various trinkets and odd hanging plants. The floors and walls were draped with carpets of various sizes and patterns, and several floating orbs lit the space.   
The moment the paladins entered, they were greeted.   
“Can’t you tell this place is closed?” A harsh voice asked. A young looking Tallerian, wearing flowing, shimmering robes, emerged from the backroom. She pointed a long finger at the door, motioning to a sign with alien letters on it.  
“I don’t car-“ Keith began, but Shiro cut him off.  
“I am very sorry, I can see we have come at a bad time,” he began, ever patient, “but my friend is very injured, can you at least look at him?”  
The alien girl glanced at Shiro, the scowl still present of her face. Finally, she relented. “I guess so.”   
She strode over to a long, padded table, and shoved a variety of papers and books onto the floor with a sweep of her hand. “Listen,” she said, “Ill look at him but I can’t make any promises. I’m only an apprentice, I’m not even a full healer.”  
“Why don’t you get the healer then?” Keith asked, urgency spilling out of his voice.  
The girl turned to Keith, her glittering purple eyes turned stoney with anger, “Because he’s dead.”  
Keith vaguely remembered the older Tallerian mentioning the Galra destroying most of the healers, and sucked his breath in guiltily. Luckily, Shiro broke the tension.  
“I’m very sorry,” he said again, “we understand what an inconvenience this must be for you. But we have nowhere else to go, if you could just see what you could do, uh-“  
“Myria,” the girl finished, “my name is Myria. And I mean I guess I could.”   
She turned her attention back to Lance. “What happened?” She asked, lightly poking at Lance’s unresponsive face.  
“Something bit him,” Keith said, unable to keep his voice from cracking. Panic rose as he continued, “I…I don’t know what it was, it was a little fuzzy thing, um, like a caterpillar-but you wouldn’t know what that is-but uh, he said it hurt but he was fine and then, and then,” Keith motioned to where Lance was laying, hoping no one noticed the tears welling in the sides of his eyes. He snapped his mouth shut and crossed his arms.   
“Little fuzzy thing…” Myria said softly, stroking one of her finger’s over Lance’s hands. “You weren’t, by any chance, wandering around in the depths of the forest, were you?”  
“Uh, yeah?” Keith breathed out, rocking impatiently on his feet. This was taking far too long.  
“Ohhhh,” Myria said, biting her lips, “ooooohhhh.”  
“Uh, is that a good ‘oh’ or like, a bad ‘oh’?” Hunk asked nervously.   
“Whatever he was bitten with was probably carrying the Tikues virus, though I will admit it’s strange, it’s been years since anyone was infected.” Myria continued, ignoring Hunk’s question all together. “I suppose it has been a while since anyone has ventured into the forest, even before the Galra it was difficult to get volunteers to go to find warmth crystals, there are just so many dangers out there, Tikues virus included. I have never seen a case in person, but my mentor has told many stories.”   
She moved across the room, shuffling through a few boxes resting on floating shelves. “I’m not certain that’s what happened to your friend, but it would make sense. I suppose the only way to tell is this.” From one of the boxes she pulled a large, glass orb.  
“Ah yes,” Pidge said, “a crystal ball. Very reliable.”   
“I…uh…suppose it is a ball shaped crystal?” Myria said, tilting her head in confusion, “though technically it is called a dream orb.”  
She held the orb in between her palms for several moments before releasing it above Lance’s head. It bobbed in place directly above his forehead, as if waiting for instructions.  
“The virus is…interesting. It doesn’t kill, not exactly. Think of it more as…trapping.” Myria said, still focusing on the floating orb.  
“Will you get to the point?” Keith growled, unsurprised when he felt Shiro glare at him.  
“The point,” Myria said unenthusiastically, “is that the virus seeps into one’s unconscious. Basically, your friend has no idea he is asleep. He believes himself to be awake and well. Better than well, actually. In his mind, he is currently living out whatever his greatest dream is.”  
“Oh!” Hunk said happily, “that’s kind of cool! Good for him, get’s to live his dream. So can we just, uh, wake him up when he’s done?”  
Myria raised her eyebrow, “no,” she said with a huff, “he will continue to live his greatest fantasy, until the virus completely overtakes his body, and he withers away into nothing. He’s going to die.”  
Several shocked gasps emitted from around the room, and Keith felt rage bubbling up inside of him. “YOU SAID YOU COULD DO SOMETHING!” He started, and this time Shiro didn’t even attempt to calm him.  
Myria held up her hand, looking unimpressed. “He’ll die,” she repeated, “unless someone enters into his mind and makes him want to come out.”  
Keith felt the rage die slightly, and relief flooded over him, “make him want to come out?” He asked softly.  
Myria nodded. “It’s tricky though. Imagine you are the happiest you have ever been, living whatever life you have dreamed and fantasized about endlessly. And then someone comes along and tries to convince you that you shouldn’t want what you have, and that you should leave all of it.”  
“But we can go in and try?” Shiro asked.  
Myria hummed, “yeah, I guess I can send you guys in,” she motioned to the orb floating above Lance’s head, “but this might help first. I can project his thoughts so you can see what he is dreaming of, and then get an idea what you’ll be getting into.”  
“Thank you,” Shiro said, he voice steady, “we appreciate all of this. Lance means a lot, to all of us.”   
Myria’s gaze softened at Shiro’s words, and she gently pushed the orb down until it rested against Lance’s hair. Suddenly, a light filled the dimly lite space, and an image appeared on the far wall.  
Keith sighed in annoyance. He wasn’t even sure why they had to waste time watching Lance’s dream, he was fairly certain he knew what it would be. Probably a giant parade with Lance in the middle, the whole galaxy celebrating him. Or maybe Lance surrounded by a cluster of fans, the majority pretty girls gushing over him.   
To Keith’s surprise it was neither. The scene being broadcasted was that of a small apartment, semi-cluttered in what seemed to be an organized mess. It was hard to take in all the details, but overall the space seemed warm and inviting. It was the kind of space Keith had fantasized about living in - while there wasn’t anyone present it obviously belonged to people who were fond of each other. Pictures too small to really see hung on every wall, some even being used as bookends and table decorations. Several notes and even a few drawings had been hung, some framed and others simply taped. The sun was setting outside, and warm light shone through the window and fell lightly on plants hanging from the ceiling and resting on the window seal.  
This must be Lance’s home, Keith thought, a pang in his stomach. He knew Lance was homesick, but sometimes forgot how much as the blue paladin tended to cover it with jokes and outlandish remarks. Lance’s greatest wish must be to go home.   
As if on cue, the door handle began to jiggle. The scene moved to the hallway, where Lance was fiddling with keys, trying to get the stubborn door to unlock.   
“Hey, it’s Lance!” Hunk exclaimed from the side.  
“Obviously,” Pidge said, and Keith could practically hear them roll their eyes. “This is his fantasy, of course he’s in it.”  
“It’s still kinda weird,” Hunk mumbled, and Keith silently agreed. Watching Lance from a large screen was strange.  
Suddenly, an unfamiliar woman appeared on the screen, and her voice rung out. “Lance!” She was almost two heads shorter than Lance, with dark black hair and deep caramel skin. Her eyes shone a bright blue that Keith recognized instantly.  
“Mama!” Lance turned and wrapped his arms around her, forgetting his keys in the lock momentarily. The woman smiled and attempted to hug him back, but struggled as she was holding two large paper grocery sacks.   
“I can’t stay for long,” she explained, “I have to pick Maria up from soccer practice. But I wanted to make sure you are eating.”  
She shoved both bags into Lance’s arms, who tried to protest. “I’m fine, Mama! Really!” He glanced down, and raised and eyebrow. “Is everything in here a vegetable? I don’t even know how to cook any of these.”  
His mother laughed, a fond look crossing her face. “You probably don’t,” she said, a hint of teasing in her tone, “but I’m sure you’re sweetheart does. He’s doing so well with my lessons.” She motioned with her head to the door Lance still hadn’t opened.  
Keith didn’t mean to, but he let out a sigh. Shiro turned to him curiously, but Keith ignored him, hoping no one noticed how red he had gotten. Of course Lance’s greatest wish for his future had his “sweetheart” in it. Probably some girl who did nothing but cook and dote on him. As much as Keith tried not to be, he was now completely irritated. Why did he care so much?  
Turning his attention back to the screen, Keith watched as Lance bent down to give his mother a kiss on the cheek, before watching her walk away. He went back to his keys, struggling to balance everything in his hands. After a moment the door swung open, and he strode into the apartment. Somewhere in the distance a radio was playing softly, and Keith recognized the song as one of his favorites.   
Lance passed the living rooming and made his way to a kitchen table, where he dumped everything he had been holding. He started to turn to where the kitchen was, and finally Keith couldn’t help himself.  
“Can’t we just go?” He interrupted, turning to Shiro. “Just send someone in to break Lance out of this, we’re wasting time.”  
“Hold on,” Shiro responded, still staring at the screen, “I’ll send someone in as soon as I can, but whoever goes needs to know what is going on, that way they can pull Lance out of it faster.”  
“I think we’ve seen enough,” Keith mumbled, crossing his arms. Shiro turned towards him, opening his mouth to say something, but stopped. He had noticed something on the screen, and turned back with a smirk.  
Keith was growing more and more annoyed, and was about to ask Shiro what was so funny about this situation, when what was on the screen caught his attention.   
During the time Keith had spent pouting to Shiro, the dream had continued. Lance had crossed into the kitchen, and was now standing with his arms wrapped around someone who had been trying to make dinner. Keith’s jaw dropped. Carefully and methodically cutting vegetables while humming to the radio, was him.   
He was wearing his black T-shirt and a long sweater, his hair brushed back but still messily sticking in multiple directions. The moment Lance’s arms wrapped around him he sunk backwards and let his head fall onto Lance’s shoulder.   
“You’re home,” dream Keith declared, with a soft smile.  
“Well, aren’t you observant,” Lance retorted with a joking smile, arching his neck to plant a kiss on the tip of Keith’s nose.  
“I am,” dream Keith said, turning back to his cutting, “just like right now I’m observing how I’m making your favorite meal and you’ll only get some if you’re nice to me.”  
“Oh,” Lance said, letting go of Keith and sliding up onto the counter next to him, “I can be very nice.”   
“Hmm,” Keith said, “I don’t believe you.”  
Lance’s mouth opened in protest, but before he could say anything Keith added, “I guess you’ll just have to show me.”  
Lance’s eyes immediately lit up, and he leaned forward as Keith set down his knife and pushed the cutting board to the side.   
“Well," Lance said, moving his hands to frame Keith's face, "I am a very generous person, so I suppose I could show you, since you so desperately want me to."  
Dream Keith tried to keep a straight face, but the moment Lance's lips touched his, a smile split his face. In between short bouts of laughter, he reached around to push his hands up Lance's hair - and then everything went dark.  
Back in reality, Hunk screeched. "Noooooooooo! We were just getting to the good part!"  
He swiveled around to find Keith, standing in front of a shattered dream orb.  
"Like I said," he muttered, "I think we've seen enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoooo look at me actually posting a chapter on time! Next one should be up soon as well! Also, I finally got around to making a Tumblr, so come say hi, I'm at lightlions.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

Keith was officially more red than he had ever been. His usually near-translucent skin now matched his armor, and Shiro was delighted.   
"I see you broke that," Shiro said, his voice lighter than usual, "any particular reason?" He raised his eyebrows and attempted to lessen his smirk, to no avail.  
"Not. Funny." Keith folded his arms and avoided eye contact.  
"No it's not," Shiro said, "we're probably going to have to replace that orb and god knows how we're gonna do that. It's probably extremely valuable, so I hope you have a good reason for completely destroying it. Maybe if you explained why Lance's dream hit so close to home for you, I wouldn't be so upset about it..."  
"Knock it off!" Keith shoved past Shiro and bent to pick up the broken pieces of glass spread on the floor.  
"It's actually not," Mryia said, striding forward. Keith had forgotten she was even present-she had been leaning against a wall quietly watching with a bored expression. When Shiro raised his eyebrows in confusion, she clarified, "that valuable. They break all the time, I have like 20 replacements in the back room." She snapped her gum and grabbed the glass pieces from Keith. She shoved them in her robe pockets and stared at Keith, as if waiting for something.  
Keith was incredibly uncomfortable. Pidge looked mildly amused, as if they had known something for a while and were immensely happy at being right. Hunk was fiddling with his hands nervously-though he had been completely caught up in watching the dream just moments ago he now felt slightly guilty that he didn't do anything to keep Keith from seeing. He had already known that Lance had the world's biggest crush, but as hard as he tried Hunk couldn't figure Keith out. He suspected Keith might be just as into Lance because whenever he brought him up Keith automatically blushed, but that was usually followed by a string of colorful curse words in various alien languages. Keith was either in deep, or he just hated Lance. It was impossible to tell which at this point.  
Shiro was the worst. Since the garrison Keith had constantly ranted about "some random kid who thinks we're rivals and I hate him! He's awful and he thinks he's so cool with his annoying smile and super bright eyes and whatever!" It was fairly entertaining to watch, and Shiro figured he deserved some solid entertainment, as re-reading star maps and planning routes was only interesting for so long. Thing were now starting to get very entertaining, and Shiro wasn't about to let it go to waste.   
"I know we were planning on all going in to get Lance, but I'm not sure that's the best plan. In fact, it might be overwhelming.” Shiro said thoughtfully.  
"It usually works fine-" Myria started, before Shiro cut her off.  
"I know Lance," he said, "and convincing him isn't going to be easy, since he's clearly having a great time in dream world." He shot a grin at Keith, who didn't notice as he was firmly avoiding eye contact.   
"Our best bet," Shiro continued, "is to send one person in and get this over with fast. We don't have a lot of time."  
"You probably have several more days-" Myria began, before Shiro quickly added, "but you never know with Lance. Let's do this quick."  
"Sounds like a smart plan," Pidge chirped in. Myria rolled her eyes.  
"So, uh," Hunk started, "who exactly is going in, because as best friend I feel like I should. Just saying."  
Shiro smiled. "I appreciate that, and I think Lance would too. But I wanted you and Pidge here to monitor everything, since we don't know how this technology works."  
"Oh!" Hunk exclaimed, "yeah, yeah, I can do that! The engineering on this planet is INSANE!"  
"Alright!" Shiro said, clapping his hands. "I guess that leaves Keith."  
Keith's head jerked up from where he was staring at the floor, trying to count all the shimmering pieces of glass he had failed to pick up. He opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut before anything came out. When it came to Shiro, arguing this was pointless.

  
"Once I project your mind, you can return to reality whenever you chose," Myria explained, slipping a visor over Keith's eyes. "If Lance makes the choice to come with you, you will both wake up. Otherwise, you will return without your friend and there is little chance I will be able to send you back again, as the virus develops quickly against intruders.   
Keith nodded, unable to see anything around him. Hands pushed him backwards onto the pillows he was sitting on.   
"Does this usually work?" Keith asked, worry beginning to seep in.  
Myria's usually sharp voice turned soft. "Not always," she muttered quietly. "As I said, this virus is rare since not many travel to the depths of the forest." She took a deep breath and continued, "the trick is that both you and your friend must want to return. Agreeing to come back even though you want to stay isn't always enough. It takes a fair amount of convincing, and not everyone are willing to leave their own personal paradise, even if they know it isn't real.”  
Paradise, Keith thought. Lance's paradise is a crappy apartment with my dumb music playing and...me.  
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Myria's voice returned to normal, and she said unenthusiastically, "well, here goes."

The moment Keith appeared in Lance’s fantasy apartment, the dream version of himself disintegrated. Lance didn’t notice as he was busy stuffing vegetables into various drawers in the fridge.   
Keith stood in the living room, and took a moment to look around. He was in a new environment, he figured he should be cautious and aware. Truthfully, the moment his feet had touched the worn carpet, a calm comfort had washed over him. He could hear Lance humming from the kitchen, the radio still quietly playing in the background.   
“Keith?” Lance asked, shutting the fridge door. “Hey, where’d you go? You left the stove on and I have honestly no idea how to work the thing…Keith?” Lance’s voice began to grow with worry, so Keith stepped into view.  
“Hi Lance.” Keith instantly regretted speaking, as his voice came out shaky. He had no idea what he was doing.  
“Um, hi?” Dude you-“ Lances stopped when he caught a glimpse of Keith. “Paladin armor, huh? You left halfway through cooking to put on some armor? Damn, you’re weird.”   
Keith let out a small laugh, still unsure what he was doing. “No, Lance, I, uh,”  
“It’s been forever since I’ve seen you dressed like that,” Lance said, moving closer, “not gonna lie, it’s pretty hot.”  
“OH!” Keith practically shrieked, backing up, “I, uh, um, Lance, we should talk.”   
“I thought that’s what we were doing?” Lance said, eyebrows raised, “but okay.”  
He strode forward and grabbed Keith’s hand, pulling him into the next room and onto the couch. Keith sat tensely, arms folded against his chest.  
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lance asked, sliding his hand onto Keith’s knee. “Did something happen?”  
“Lance,” Keith began slowly, “what do you remember? From space?”  
Lance paused, pushing his eyebrows together. “Everything? I mean, uh, we fought in a weird space war? We defeated Zarkon? We came back to earth together and rented an apartment and now we live happily ever after, or something like that?”  
“Do you,” Keith said with a sigh, “really remember any of that happening? Like, can you picture it?”  
Lance paused, before squeezing his eyes shut. “Sure! I mean…well…if I think about it…I mean, it was a really long time ago! What’s your point?” His eyes flickered open, and he stared at Keith. “You’re being really, really weird. Like, the worrying kind of weird.”  
Keith sucked his breath in, and stared down at the floor. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Lance,” he begun, trying to keep his tone steady, “none of this is real.” He motioned to the space around them. “We are still fighting a space war. We went to get some crystals for this planet but we never ended up getting them because you got hurt. This is a dream, and you have to leave it.”   
Lance pulled his hand away from Keith’s knee, and backed up into the couch. “What?! No! Dude, you are being SO WEIRD. You need to knock it off!” His eyes flickered around wildly, as if trying to convince himself everything around him really existed.   
“Lance,” Keith said, keeping his voice soft and Lance grew more and more panicked, “think really hard. What is the last thing you can really remember?”   
“I remember everything!” Lance practically shouted, raising his arms. “We were in space! Doing space things! And we went to all sorts of planets! And we did a bunch of stuff together! Like you said, we went that once to get crystals or something! And you were being all pouty for no reason. But the plants were so cool! One had lots of bugs in it, but they were kinda mean. Bit me and everything. But it was okay, because after that…after that…” Lance shoved his head in between his hands, his brain throbbing with the worst headache he had ever felt.  
“Then you passed out,” Keith said, putting a hand on Lance’s back. “We brought you to a healer and she said you were trapped. In a sort of fantasy world. This.” Keith motioned again to the room around him.   
Lance pulled his head up to look at Keith, his eyes growing wide. “This-none of this real?” He asked, he voice lowering.  
Keith shook his head, hating the way Lance’s face fell. “I’m real,” he added helpfully, “the healer sent me in to pull you out of it. It’s easy, we can leave any time.”  
Lance pushed Keith’s hand off of his back, and turned away. He hadn’t been quite fast enough, and Keith had noticed the tears streaming down his face.   
“It’s uh…” Keith stumbled, trying to think of something to say, “it’s cool though. Like, we’re gonna go back and everyone will be happy to see you and we’ll go to some more cool planets and have fun and stuff.” Keith was rambling but in all honesty he didn’t know what to say. He could see Lance’s shoulders shake, and he didn’t know what to say. He could feel guilt rise in his stomach. Lance honestly believed he was home, and Keith was going to be the one to rip him away from it.   
“It’s okay if you don’t believe me,” Keith said quietly, “you can take your time, I understand this is hard.”  
Lance sat up, tears still streaming down his face. “No, that’s the problem,” he said, hiccuping, “I do believe you. I don’t want to, but you’re right. I don’t remember anything. Just getting bitten and waking up here and feeling like it was normal and everything was okay but it’s not.”  
Keith’s eyes widened in surprise. Everything about where they were was so real. He had been waiting for Lance to fight back, to argue. To have to spend hours trying to convince him. Keith sometimes forgot how smart Lance was; for all his jokes he was incredibly observant. Truthfully, if the situation had been flipped and Keith was in Lance’s place, he would react with anger. Be upset that someone had come into the life he always wanted and ruin it. It wouldn’t matter why, he would lash out. But Lance was smart. He would think things through. He was plenty stubborn, but enough of a thinker to consider that he could be wrong. Keith couldn’t help but be impressed.  
Lance sat on the edge of the couch shaking, at Keith wasn’t sure what to do. He knew Lance liked physical contact, but he had already backed away from Keith twice. Keith figured he just needed a little time.   
Keith stood slowly, leaving Lance on the couch. He walked carefully into the kitchen, where a half-prepared meal was waiting on the counters. His eyes searched around until he found an old tea kettle sitting on stove. He picked it up and filled it, placing it back where he found it and fiddling around with the knobs until the stove came to life.   
He was bad at this whole comfort thing, but he had learned a thing or two over the years, all from Shiro. Shiro who had quickly learned that Keith wasn’t into talking, but would take a cup of hot tea anytime. For all his annoyingness, Shiro had done a lot for him.  
A few minutes of searching cupboards later, Keith returned to the living room with a mug of tea in his hands. He shoved it in Lance’s hands, and sat back down next to him.   
“Thank- yeow! That’s hot! Geez, Keith!” Lance readjusted his hands so that they weren’t burning, and rolled his eyes at Keith’s soft giggle. Things had been hazy at first, but the more Keith had talked the clearer they became. He really was in some stupid dream.  
“So,” Lance said, dramatically taking slow sips and blowing loudly just to make a point, "everything is fake and I'm really happy here which is fake too. So there was no point in making me tea, because it's fake tea."  
"Yeah," Keith shrugged, "but it probably taste real."  
"It does," Lance said, blowing into his cup before taking another sip, "but it's fake and so is this whole place."  
“It is okay,” Keith said quickly, not wanting Lance to get upset again, “it really is. Everyone is waiting for us. We can leave at anytime. We just have to chose to, and as long as we want to go back it’ll be fine. So, c’mon.”  
Keith stood up, and waited for Lance to follow him. He wasn't sure how this whole thing was supposed to work, but sitting still was making him antsy.  
"Actually," Lance said slowly, setting his mug on the floor before curling further into the couch, "I think maybe you should go."  
"Obviously," Keith retorted, "that's what I'm trying to do. C'mon."  
Lance shook his head, avoiding eye contact. "No," he said softly, "you go back. I'm staying here."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm almost done with the very last chapter, so that will be up soon! Also, you guys have no idea how much I love reading comments and seeing kudos, it makes me SO SO SO happy. You all are literally the best THE BEST I TELL YOU.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's a wrap! Sorry it took so long for the last chapter-midterms basically killed me. Thank you so much for all of the kudos and comments, it seriously means so much. I would love to keep writing, if you guys have any requests or ideas please let me know!!! I also made a tumblr, so you can find me over there at lightlions.tumblr.com. Again, thank you so much :) I got really down a little bit ago and was considering taking a break from writing/posting here, but I ended up reading through some comments and I was so overwhelmed with how kind you guys are, and I realized how much I absolutely love doing this (so never fear, I will be back ;)

Keith sighed and sat back down. Maybe he hadn't explained things right. "If I leave now I can't come back," Keith tried to explain, "we both need to go, together. I know you probably want to chill here for a bit, but I don't think that's a good idea. I need you to want to come back with me, and then we'll go. That's all you have to do."  
"You told me all that already," Lance said.   
Keith was really trying here, but Lance was starting to get on his nerves. All he had to do was agree to go back and they could! They could go home, and be safe, and Keith could stop picturing Lance's lifeless body slumped on the counter of some alien healer's shop. And once they got back, maybe Keith would have the courage to say something about how he felt. There was still a sinking fear in his gut that maybe he was misinterpreting what the dream meant, but even Keith had to admit it seemed unlikely.   
"THEN LET'S GO!" Keith hadn't meant for it to come out so loud, but it did. Truthfully, he was panicking. Maybe Hunk really should have come in, or Shiro. They would probably already have Lance out, safe and sound.  
"NO!" Lance retorted, springing out of his chair. "I'M STAYING HERE!"  
Keith wasn't expecting that. He had figured the hard part would be convincing Lance he was living a lie, after that he figured it would be easy to get Lance to leave.  
It wasn't.  
"You should go back," Lance said again, he voice softening.  
"Lance," Keith said, trying to calm himself, "you can't stay here. You can't stay like this forever. Your body back in reality will eventually starve and you'll die. We have to go back, the whole team is waiting."  
Keith waited for Lance to understand what he was saying, but instead was met with an apathetic shrug.  
"Eh," Lance said, "sucks for them. I mean, clearly they're going to miss my good looks and obvious charm, but they can find someone else to pilot the blue lion. Also, Keith-y boy, I don't know if you know this, but we're all gonna die. Us probably sooner than later, what with the whole space war goin' on and stuff. So I might as well live the rest of my life in pure happiness."  
Lance calmly walked back to the couch and sat down, pulling his legs up to his chest. Keith stood in front of him, jaw hung wide open.   
"Besides," Lance said bitterly, "I don't know how I could ever face you in the real world again." His eyes narrowed at Keith, "just how much of this dream world have you seen?"  
Keith wasn't sure how to respond to that. So, in typical Keith fashion, he stood awkwardly shifting from foot to foot trying not to look at Lance.  
"Well," Lance concluded, "that answers that." He shot an insincere smile at Keith before continuing, "so, I'm definitely not going back."   
By this point, Keith was full on panicking. This was so not the plan. This was, in fact, the opposite of the plan. He had to do something, anything.  
Keith took a deep breath, and sat back down, closer to Lance than he had before. Please let this work, he pleaded to himself.  
"So," Keith started, "you like this place, huh?"  
"Duh," Lance said, raising an eyebrow.  
"And, you like seeing your mom."  
"Yes... what's your point?"  
"And you like living in a little apartment and playing music and decorating with pictures?"  
"Yeah, very observant of you. Does this have a point?"  
"And you like kissing dream me?"  
Lance's cheeks went bright red. "I mean...we don't have to talk about that, okay?" He stuttered.  
"I asked a question," Keith retorted, "do you like kissing dream me?"  
"Yeah," Lance whispered back, so softly Keith would have missed it if he wasn't paying attention, "it's my favorite part."   
"Maybe," Keith said slowly, feeling his heart beat speeding up, "you would like kissing real me more?"  
Lance's eyes got wide, but before he could question what Keith meant, the red paladin pressed their mouths together. It took Lance by surprise, but he melted into Keith in a matter of seconds.   
Keith had always known he was impulsive, and for the first time in his life, he was glad. He hadn't really been thinking things through, all he knew was that if dream Keith got to taste Lance, well damn it, so did the real him. He slid his hands into Lance's hair, and all but moaned as Lance slid his tongue into his mouth. Lance's pushed his hands against Keith's already arched back, desperately trying to pull him closer.   
When they finally separated, Keith was out of breath. A blush had spread over his face, and an intense happiness was beginning to settle inside of his chest.  
"Lance," Keith said, hands still tangled in short chestnut hair, "was that...is this...okay?"  
Lance let out a short laugh, his eyes crinkling in a way that had Keith's heart speeding up all over again. "Yes, oh my god, yes."  
Keith shoved his body even closer, until their lips were almost touching again. "If this is how good it feels in a dream, imagine how it would feel in reality."  
Before Lance could respond, Keith's voice hitched. "Please," he heard himself beg, "please come home with me."  
True to his nature, Lance cracked a grin and went for a joke. "You telling me you'll give me more kisses if I do? Sounds like bribery to me."  
"Yes," Keith said quickly, hoping Lance didn't hear the desperation in his voice, "I will give you as many as want. I'll give you more than you want, I'll give you so many you'll be begging me to stop. Please."  
"Oh," Lance said, his dark skin deepening as a blush crept upon his face, "in that case, I want to go home."

 

  
The moment Lance and Keith jerked upwards, awake, Hunk quickly hid the new, unbroken dream orb behind his back. He felt guilty about everything he had just seen, though it had been Shiro's suggestion. ("Gotta make sure it's all going according to plan," the black paladin had insisted, far too persistent. Myria had rolled her eyes before fishing a new orb out of the back room, and Hunk and Pidge had silently cheered when images of Keith in Lance's dream world shone into view. Shiro was enjoying this far, far too much).   
"BUDDY!" Hunk exclaimed, after shoving the dream orb under a pile of books and loose papers. He wrapped Lance into a hug, all but crushing him.  
"Aw, look who's back!" Pidge said, wiggling their way into the hug.   
"I'm so glad to see you," Shiro said, joining in. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but he really had been incredibly worried. The longer Lance and Keith had been gone the more his anxiety had grown. Finally, everything seemed okay.  
"And you!" Shiro broke away and turned to Keith, "good job!" He wrapped him up in a hug that had Keith rolling his eyes and half heartedly trying to break away. "I've always believed in you," Shiro said, in a much too serious tone, while grasping Keith's cheeks.  
"Okay, and we're done here," Keith said, pushing Shiro away. "Don't we still have crystals to gather? Or something like that?" Keith started making his way to the exit, before Shiro held him back.  
"I don't think so, buddy. I'm going to get the crystals, with Hunk and Pidge, and none of us are touching anything, clear?" He shot a meaningful look at Pidge, who looked slightly offended at being singled out. "You," he continued, "are staying here with Lance. When you both feel up to it we can all meet back at the castle."  
"That's stupid-" Keith protested, but not before Pidge cut in.   
"So are you," they added helpfully, "so it works out perfect."  
Shiro pulled Pidge away and started leading them towards the door, but Keith didn't miss the low fist bump he gave them as they left.  
Hunk was still attached to Lance, seemingly very reluctant to leave. Finally, he released his death-grip, and looked down sadly at his friend. "I guess I should go. But, uh, no more getting bitten by weird alien bug things, okay?" Lance let out an exasperated laugh, and Hunk continued, "but, uh, you two probably have A LOT to talk about, so I'll get going.”  
"Wait," Keith said, narrowing his eyes, "you guys weren't...watching that? Right?"   
"Welp, off to help Shiro and Pidge save a planet from freezing-ness, since that is my duty as a paladin and all, okay bye!" Hunk said hurriedly before scurrying out the door.  
"Oh my god," Keith muttered, feeling his face grow red for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. He slumped back down, into his place across from Lance. The space around them became heavy and silent, and Keith waited for Lance to say something, expecting a joke or inappropriate innuendo. Instead, Lance sat quietly, slumped over, avoiding Keith's gaze.  
"Are you...okay?" Keith asked softly, moving to sit next to Lance, who noticeably stiffened.   
"Fine," Lance said carefully avoiding Keith's intense gaze.   
Silence emerged once again, and Keith started to panic. Maybe I was wrong? He started tapping his foot idly against the wooden floorboards, not sure how else to quell his anxiety. Maybe I misunderstood his dream? Maybe he doesn't want this. What if the healer was wrong, what if that wasn't his dream, what if it was his nightmare? Oh, my god, being with me is Lance's NIGHTMARE - he was thankfully broken out of his spiraling thoughts by Lance clearing his throat.  
"Look, Keith," he started, his voice uncharacteristic devoid of emotion, "thanks for saving me and you know, pulling me out of that dream trap or whatever." Lance gestured widely with his hands, still avoiding looking directly at Keith.   
"Oh-of-of course," he stuttered in response. He knew he should say something, anything, to dispel the tension, to begin understanding what Lance was thinking, to clarify his own thoughts that were teetering between hopefulness and fear. Instead, he said nothing.  
After a short moment, Lance attempted to stand, but found it to be too much effort and resigned himself to sitting back down. He sighed and turned slightly to Keith.  
"Lance-" Keith began, but Lance held up a hand to stop him.  
"No, Keith," he said, finally looking the other boy directly in the eyes, "let's just...get this over with." Keith opened his mouth, still not sure what he was going to say, but Lance waved a hand flippantly to stop him.   
"I really appreciate the-what you did in there. You know, to get me out."  
Keith nodded, the tips of his ears turning red once he realized Lance was referring to kissing him. He decided now was probably not the time not admit he had been thinking about doing it, constantly, since he noticed the eager cargo pilot shuffling around the garrison. He had only wracked up the courage to do it out of pure desperation, wanting more than anything in the world for Lance to be back in the real world, safe.   
"So, uh," Lance continued, "I just, god, Keith, I'm so sorry."  
Keith's head snapped up and he stared confused at Lance, who was trying to push back the tears brimming at his eyes.  
Without thinking, Keith reached out and gently set his hand on Lance's, relieved when he didn't move away. "Why would you be sorry?" Keith asked, surprised when the question prompted the tears out of Lance's eyes and down his face.  
"Because," he hiccuped slightly, "I didn't want, I didn't mean, I just-" he paused mid sentence to wipe at his eyes, before continuing. "I made you kiss me. You had to, to get me out. And, and, I wanted, I wanted you to kiss me so bad, but I, I know you did it for the team. To save Voltron and stuff. I shouldn't have made you. I didn't realize, I didn't mean..." Lance trailed off as a new set of tears spilled down his face.  
Watching Lance so upset left a sick feeling in Keith's stomach, but he still couldn't help the feeling of relief that washed over him. He pulled his hand away from Lance's, moving it up to cup Lance's face.   
"I'm sorry too," Keith said, speaking quickly before Lance could react, "if someone started rummaging around in my mind, no matter what it was for, I would be angry. I think it's only fair that I even things out."  
Lance glanced at him, his eyebrows raising in confusion. "What'd you mean?"  
"That I tell you mine," Keith muttered, lowering his voice.  
"Your...?"  
"My greatest dream, or what I really want, or whatever!" Keith said, feeling frustration rise in his chest. This was going to be embarrassing.   
"Well, then go ahead, be my guest.” Lance was now looking at him curiously, still unsure.   
“I uh, think about stuff, sometimes,” he started, “like all I’ve ever really wanted was a family. And now, I have one.” He stopped and took a deep breath.   
“And?” Lance prompted.  
“And nothing!” Keith replied, tensing up. “I love being space, the castle is my home. I’ve never felt like I belonged and now I do and it’s…it’s…more than I ever imagined I would get.”  
Lance sighed. Whatever small flicker of hope had been burning in his chest had been extinguished. All Keith really wanted was for things to stay the exact same. Nice. He should have figured.  
“Cool,” Lance said, trying desperately to not sound bitter. “So you are livin’ your dream. Cool cool cool. Good to know, thanks for sharing. Um, we should probably get going.”  
Lance stood up briefly in another attempt to make his way towards the exit, but ended up teetering. Keith sprung out of his seat. He caught Lance in his arms, setting him back down carefully.   
“All I want is to keep doing this. Keep saving people, keep being a family. Except uh, maybe like, a couple things could change?" Keith continued, ignore the interruption. "Like, uh, I like saving people and running around with everyone and living in the castle together, but more than that I want..." Lance stared at Keith expectantly, waiting. Keith took a deep breath in, attempted to steady his voice, and continued, "I want you. God, I want all of you. I want to kiss you before missions and after missions and during missions and I want to be with you, all the time, no matter where we are or what we are doing. I just, I just want you Lance. And I never thought in a million years, that you would want me too."  
"Oh." During Keith's ramble, Lance's eyes had grown considerably wider. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he resorted to squeezing Keith's hand excitedly.  
"Anyways," Keith continued, "I have a lot of work to do, so I should probably get to it."  
"Uh, yeah, we should catch up with Shiro," Lance started, not even attempting to hide his disappointment.  
"Not that," Keith said rolling his eyes. "I mean, I made a promise to give you something if you came back with me. You kept your end, so I guess its my turn."  
It took Lance a few moments to understand what Keith was saying, and by that time Keith had closed the distance between them, and was pressing their mouths together. He grabbed Lance's armor and pulled him closer, kissing him with such a mixture of relief and desperation it left Lance breathless.   
After a moment, Lance pulled away, only to run his fingers through Keith's hair and whisper, "this is so much better in the real world."  
"Agreed," Keith huffed out, his forehead pressed to Lance's, "we should probably keep doing it."   
And with that Lance leaned back in, feeling more warm, safe, and blissfully happy than he ever had before.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will be up in a few days or sooner. :)


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